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David Downing has written a series of novels about an English journalist in Berlin during WW II. In Zoo Station, the first of the series, John Russell, is in Danzig when he’s approached by a Soviet NKVD agent offering him a lot of money for a series of articles that portrayed Naziism in a positive light. Russell is an Englishman, a former Communist, who fought in WW I, having married (now estranged) a German woman. His son, Paul, born in Germany, is a member of the Hitler Youth.
Russell suspects ...more
Russell suspects ...more
While this started slowly and the writing seemed a bit workman-like the suspense kept building and I really came to care about what happened to the various characters in this story set in 1939 Berlin.
Fans of Alan Furst’s Night Soldier’s series will definitely like Zoo Station (and its sequels). Being espionage (of a sort) thrillers set just before and during WWII there are a lot from the author, David Downing, being British, not American. The novel displays a rich vein of black humor that really appeals to me, probably rather encessary given the setting.
The protagonist is John Russell, a British-American reporter working in Berlin in the 1930s. These novels are as much about John's personal ...more
The protagonist is John Russell, a British-American reporter working in Berlin in the 1930s. These novels are as much about John's personal ...more
Well written, atmospheric historical spy fiction. Downing captures the mood of the period excellently.
Apr 14, 2010
Wendybird
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Shelves:
spy-espionage,
historical-fiction
May 05, 2010
Steve Anderson
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KOMET
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Shelves:
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david-downing
Jun 29, 2011
Elli
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